“I struggled on my first ride with them, but I know now they’ll never drop you if you’re having a bad day.”

Next through is club treasurer Crawford Geddes, who joined the club for one simple reason — to keep himself motivated.

“The worst part of any bike ride is getting out of bed and putting your kit on, but if there’s a group of people waiting for you then you can’t let them down,” he says.

A strong youth scene

President’s pace

By now we are at the foot of the day’s big climb, Cleish Hill, and I’m happy to drop back and join the middle group, which comprises some of the club’s younger members being chaperoned by youth coach Matthew Ball.

“This is the youth section’s eighth season,” he tells me.

“Its success is down to several things: keeping it fun, learning skills, making friends and pushing the edges.

Matthew Ball, youth coach: “You make friends for life, there is a mutual respect.”

“To the younger kids, a bike is an adventure machine. Cornering at speed is an adventure. So we keep it as varied as possible, rotating classes in road, cross, grass track, hill-climbing and mountain biking.”

The final group on the road is riding at “the president’s pace”, the president being Graeme Horne, a road racing veteran who worries that cycling could become “a fashion statement”.

During our return trip across the Forth, Matthew Ball is eyeing up the new road bridge that is due to open in August.

“We’ve been telling everyone it will be exclusively for cyclists,” he says. “That really winds people up!”

Liz Henry: “I joined a cycle club in 1981 because i fancied my brother’s friend. We’ve now been married for 34 years.”

History

West Lothian is the youngest and largest of the three ‘Clarion’ clubs north of the border (the others being Coatbridge and West of Scotland).

It was formed in 2008 after Sadiq Mir put out an SOS on social media looking for local cyclists to take part in training rides.

Within months he had enough regular riding companions to think about establishing a club, and the group decided to become part of the UK-wide Clarion network because of its “fellowship through cycling” tradition and rich history stretching back to 1895.

Watch now: How to corner

They held their first club 10 on Boxing Day 2008, attracting four entries who competed for silverware donated by Jim Smith of West of Scotland Clarion.

By the end of the following year they had 70 members and a regular calendar of club runs, TTs, evening rides and a reliability trial.

The club appointed a women’s officer, and today boasts a total of 40 female members.

The club has established a number of events on the Scottish race calendar, including the Lang Whang Hilly 30 TT, Battle of Black Loch Road Race and the Kingscavil Hill-Climb.

Echoing the National Clarion’s early days as an egalitarian, politically active body — it was named after a socialist newspaper — the West Lothian section is working with the local council and the Linlithgow Community Development Trust on a project to build a £650,000 tarmac cycling track in the area.

Connect with us

Get our free email newsletter

Your email address:

By submitting your details, you will also receive emails from Time Inc. UK, publisher of Cycling Weekly and other iconic brands about its goods and services, and those of its carefully selected third parties. Please tick here if you’d prefer not to hear about:

Time Inc.'s goods & services, including all the latest news, great deals and offers